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Military song choir touches audience with songs from musical 'Hero'
Members of the Korea Military Song Choir perform a concert at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of Korea Military Song Choir
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
The Korea Military Song Choir (KMSC) performed songs from the musical “Hero,” drawing rounds of applause from around 2,000 audience members during its annual concert held at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, Sunday.
“Hero” is a musical about the life of Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910).
The KMSC, founded in 2015, consists of about 90 men including retired soldiers, government officials and members from academic and businesses communities. It performs an annual concert each June, a month dedicated to honoring and remembering patriots and veterans in Korea with Memorial Day observed on June 6.
The choir said more members could participate in this year's performance following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Besides songs from the musical, the choir sang a variety of songs including military and folk songs.
The audience included Korean War veterans, actively serving soldiers, reservists and officials from the Korea Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), as well as officials from the embassies of Thailand, Greece and New Zealand. These nations dispatched troops to help South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Retired soldier Kim Seong-deok, 54, watched the performance and said, “I hated to sing military songs when I was on active duty but I was deeply touched when listening to the songs sung by the choir today. I want to join the choir if I am eligible to do so.”
The choir members are scheduled to give a performance honoring the sacrifices of the fallen Thai soldiers of the Korean War and their families during a memorial ceremony to be held in Thailand on June 23.
The ceremony is organized by the Korean Embassy in Bangkok to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted the war.
In October 2019, the choir performed for Korean War veterans in the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria.